All Forum Posts by: Jason Hershey

I believe you are right that buyers are, in general, more informed. There should be a range of appropriate prices, and being near the top isn't bad, but you don't want to be over-priced. Here is the logic I use when explaining it to my brokerage clients:

Lets say at the time you list the property, there are 1000 people looking, and a new 100 people every day. On day one of the listing you have the opportunity to grab the attention of 1000 people. If your property is priced 'out of the market', you have trouble getting those people back. Instead, with every price change you will get the new days 100 people and perhaps some of the 1000 that were already looking... but probably not all of them. You are at the mercy of their search setup. If they've ruled out your property, it may never show up for them again.

So, you are best making sure you are in the right price range, even if its a little on the high side. If you are on the high-side of the market, make sure there is a reason for it... if you have a completely upgraded, painted, repaired house, then being the highest price/SF might make sense.

Also keep in mind your goals... if it is to turn around the property quickly, you may be better off going on the low end, or below market, just to move the property quickly. Also, I do know some brokers who like to price below market to generate lots of interest and hopefully cause multiple offers and a bidding war. This can work, but I'm never all that comfortable with it, unless I (and the client) are willing to accept the lower initial price, if there are not multiple offers.

Good luck!

-Jason

I usually assume I'm going to have a rental unit empty for 1 month between tenants. I rent mine out on a 1 year lease. I am a real estate broker, and unless you are dealing with 'high end' properties, I don't think hiring just an agent to lease out your space is cost effective, as long as you have time to do it yourself, and it shouldn't take that much of your time.

What an agent charges will vary by market, but expect a minimum of 1/4 of a months rent, and probably 1/2 to the whole month. That is also true for many property managers, plus they charge a % of rent each month. I know a few that charge a flat fee per month, but really they are providing a more limited service.

For pricing, you can get a feel for going rents by reviewing Zillow, Trulia, and my favorite Craigslist (if its in your market). I take the strategy of overpricing my asking rent, and working my way down (quickly). If you get no calls and your are doing a good job of marketing, your rent is too high. If you are getting several calls a week, you are probably about right.

If you are showing the property and not getting applications, there is a problem with your property in comparison to competition or your rent is too high. Lowering the rent can fix every problem, but it might mess with your return on investment.

Like Luis said, if you do it yourself, get educated. Make sure you are following fair housing rules in your marketing and following all the local laws applicable to being a landlord.

Have you read the zoning matrix and zoning descriptions for yourself? Its just that in many places, single family zoning might still allow a duplex or triplex. I would want to know 'for sure'. Most cities have a zoning matrix, which is basically a table that says what is allowed in various zones. You'll also want to check the definitions for the specific zone for that property to see exactly what it says.

There are several. I use white-pages.com the most often.

You can also use http://555-1212.com/, or try http://www.blackbookonline.info/ which lists a bunch of various searches.
Lately I've just taken to putting the phone number in Bing or Google and running a general search.